FOOD: Buffet @ Kampachi Japanese Restaurant

Japanese buffet has been a hit recently with outlets like Shogun and Tenji popping up and serving great japanese cuisine in KL. Though we haven't try those yet, we heard rave reviews from friends, even my dad-in-law has been to  Tenji !! These buffets are not cheap though, they can cost a whopping RM 100 per meal, but of course, you get to have all the sashimi you wanted.

Kampachi

Not losing out to KL, Penang has its own Japanese Buffet too, that also cost you a fortune, and also lets you have all the sashimi's you wanted. My company had a teambuilding there...(yeah, my company's teambuilding most of the time is having buffet, coz people are too lazy to sweat or think)...recently, and, what else?? it's snapping time !!

sashimi, oysters and idako

Sashimi !!! I'm still day dreaming of the sashimi i had at Sydney Fish Market, and i hope to try something equivalent here. First round, raw and fresh sashimi that are cut to just nice bite size. The tenderness of the salmon lingers inside the mouth makes you wanna eat more. Of course, it has to go with the ginger pickle and wasabi.

ongoing refill oysters

The oysters are one of the must have here...why? paying a dearly price of buffet without having these oysters will be a big joke. Splashing lemon juice over the oysters and then gulping these succulent flesh down the throat is heavenly.

teppanyaki

Another favourite choice is teppanyaki which consists of grill seafood and poultry. Lobsters are the most anticipated one until some of us are willing to wait  until a batch of well-grilled lobsters are done. Situated at the same corner are a great variety of tempura which ranges from prawns, squids and vege.

grilled lobster, mussel, beef, vege and crispy tempura

Japanese cuisine is not complete without the stomach-filling sushi and temaki. I didn't try all but a few which i fancy a lot each time i patronize sakae or sushi king.

sushi corner

salad bar and sashimi corner as well

inari and spider maki

The good thing here is that the rice-based sushi are not overly filled with rice, not like other japanese restaurant. You get to taste the fillings and the toppings more this way. Now, this is what i call sushi. Some restaurant will just stuff the sushi with so much rice, that i feel like eating rice ball rather than sushi.

raw sushi

takoyaki, endamame, soft-shell crab temaki and all my favourite sushi

The handroll is only made upon request and i immediately grab 1 spider temaki. Wrapped with crispy seaweed, the fillings are super crunchy fried soft-shell crab with a little bit of rice and some cucumber shreds.

Another dish which i fancy a lot is sukiyaki. The hot soup with thinly sliced tender  beef is indeed a perfect match. Each sip will give you warmth and hearth. The soup contain other ingredients such as leek, tofu and chinese cabbage. Well, you can add an egg too if you want. but for me, it's a no no, cos it's gonna be too filling. The key to having a smart buffet is, never eat one thing too much.

                                    

hot pot with sukiyaki soupbase

The beef will be cooked upon patronizer's request. The chef will shimmer the beef into the hot soup until they are well-cooked. To me, i prefer to shimmer it myself. For those who don't like beef, you can have chicken sukiyaki.

my beef sukiyaki...so warm

There is a corner where you can show off your culinary skills... :P haha..it's the cold/hot soba making. After shimmering the noodles in boiling water, pour in the ready made soup base. Finally, garnish it with shredded egg omelette, japanese fish cake, wakame and spring onions. I tried the cold soba which turns out not bad in taste.

D.I.Y cold or hot soba and udon corner

(drum rolls)...ta da..my creation of cold soba

After savoring almost all the appetizers and main course, it's time for dessert !! Desserts served in buffet are always nice to look at but not quite impressing in taste. It could be that we are too full to feed our mouth anymore of these sweet treats. Frankly, besides the fruits, red bean soup and ice-cream, i didn't like much of their desserts. May be my judgement was overweighed by my full stomach :P

desserts corner

some of the desserts we took

mini cakes

Cracking jokes and teasing around the tatami room is a fun-filled experience especially with my beloved colleagues. What's so memorable was crapping on the Kerachut hiking journey in the morning and getting to know each other more. I will definitely pay another visit to this restaurant as i like the cosy tatami environment with good Japanese food surrounding me.

Kampachi Japanese Restaurant is located at Equatorial Hotel , Bayan Lepas, Penang


Address: 1 Jalan Bukit Jambul, Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang, Malaysia
Business Hours: From Monday to Sunday- from Noon to 11 pm. Buffet only available on weekends.
Directions: From exit of Penang Bridge, make your way to Queensbay Mall. Take the left ramp to Bayan Lepas and you will reach a roundabout. Take the 2nd exit and you will see Kompleks Bukit Jambul on your right. Go straight till you reach the 2nd traffic light ( not counting pedestrian crossing). Turn right and go all the way up the hill to Equatorial Hotel

Price: 3/10
Ambience: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Food: 8/10
Cleanliness: 9/10
Entertainment: 3/10

FOOD: Sun Seng Fatt "Wat Tan Hor" ...a.k.a. Slippery Egg Hor Fun

Phew...it's been a long break. Too lazy to write. Can't find the urge to write, though have a lot to write. Somehow, the rain gives me the urge to write something tonight.

This time, i'm bringing you out of Penang. Where to ? This time I'm gonna show you something really really special, and this only happens in Ipoh...

Kafe Sun Seng Fatt

Yeah, crappy old shop. In Ipoh Town. Wonder what's so special ? Before i venture to the food part, let me tell you what's so special of this shop. And its something that you need to have before you go.

One word.

Patience.

Yes. Patience.

You really need to have big patience attitude and excellent anger management. Plus with high EQ. Or you are gonna start cursing and giving "The Look" at the cook. Well, this SSF does cook up great food, but he takes like forever to cook up a dish.

cook of the year

The cook is early fourties man, with his father presumably next to him, frying the noodles and walking around. You might gonna start asking... have to wait how long ?

Well, the shop starts cooking around 9pm, so, if you reach around 8++ and wait, you might get your dish at 9pm. But if you reach like 930 or 10pm, be prepared to watch 2 episodes of House or Desperate Housewives, which is what we did. Don't even think of coming in at 11pm , thought the later it gets, the lesser the customer are. Wrong. It's the same.

Ok, i might be exaggerating a little bit. But that was what we experienced every time we have supper there. It might not be on other nights. But you can be sure that your turn is just around the corner when they pass you the bowls and chopsticks. Don't get it wrong, what i mean by just around the corner is 5-10minutes more... :P

Father and son

Most anticipated bowl and chopstick

Well, enough crap. Let's move on to food !!

They serve very limited dishes, but they are absolutely popular with their 2 dishes. First up, the "slippery egg Hor Fun", or we call it the "Wat Tan Hor".

Wat tan hor

"Wat Tan Hor" is basically a thick soupy 'hor fun' cooked with egg and some vegetable. It's very tasty as its not too watery, yet not too starchy like eating glue.

Two thumbs up...Yummy

Added with some prawns to give some chewing feel to it. What's special of their "wat tan hor" is that the taste was somewhat quite perfect and tasty. The soup base was similar to shark fin soup, and that's what we call it as the "shark fin Wat Tan Hor".

Prawn !!

Their 2nd best dish would be the fried noodles and beehoons. Also take ages to fry, but does worth the wait. Can't explain much here. It's just fried noodles. But , taste better than the Ong Cheng Huat's fried noodles. It's really that good.

Delicious fried noodle

Well, it does need some waiting, but its well worth the wait. If you are around Ipoh, and want to crave some soupy noodles for late dinner or supper, do head down there.

My last advice. Watch out for your drinks. No, its not the flies. While you wait, you sip a little and a little and then you are halfway down the road and you realise that you are out of water. So be prudent in your drinks before anything arrives on your table.



Sun Seng Fatt Restaurant is located at
Address: Opposite Wisma Peak Hua, Leong Sin Nam Street, Ipoh Perak
Business Hours: 9pm to late night
Directions: From Jalan Hospital, go straight until Bulatan Sultan Iskandar. After that, take the 1st exit onto Jalan Raja Musa Aziz. Head straight until you saw Jalan Leong Sin Nam on your left. Turn left into this street. Then, go straight and you can see Kedai Makanan Sun Seng Fatt on your right.

Price: 8/10
Ambience: 2/10
Service: 3/10 (service is good, but takes too long to serve)
Food: 10/10
Cleanliness: 5/10
Entertainment: 2/10

Visit http://picasaweb.google.com/thexnix/SunSengFatt# for more photos

Bukit Genting Hill

Fancy seeing a sunset while enjoying some thai food ?















Look at the silhouette at the back of those clouds, dreamy..

Or maybe a bright sunlight view ?















Sun coming down

Lo behold, Bukit Genting Hill is the place for you. Situated on top of a hill at Teluk Kumbar, you get to see the picturesque view of the paddy fields , and the south side of Penang, while enjoying hot and spicy Tomyam !















Paddy field

As our friends from KL came to visit us last weekend, we immediately bring them here. It was raining cats and dogs for the whole week, but somehow, that night was surprisingly crystal clear. I even feared we won't get the chance to see the lovely sunset.















Nice flora in Bukit Genting

Bukit Genting serves popular Thai dishes that bear similarity to our neighbour up north. Apparently, they have another outlet down hill at Sg.Ara called Cherry Blossom. You can patron there if you just wanted to have some Thai dishes without having to climb up a hill. I even found they gave bigger portion at Sg.Ara. :p















Here, the chicken bigger than the van, don't play play















Yeah, its pork free. If you find pork, they wont charge you for that.















Bottomless rice

First up, we have some stuffed crab for starters. Stuffed with chicken meat, this exotic stuffed crab tasted great. Not spicy though, unless you dip into their chili sauce. But, it gives a nice aroma of a fusion of chicken meat and crab. A must try !















Stuffed crab, 7/10

Next comes the main dishes. First up, Tomyam !!
They serve 2 types of tomyam, the red and the white type. To taste the difference between both types, we ordered both of them. The red tomyam has that spicy and sour taste to it, and its delicious too. Not spicy enough though to make us rush for water. Speaking of spicy, I'm still twinging from the spicy steamboat at Lameizi.















Red hot tomyam, 7/10

The white tomyam on the other hand wasn't as spicy as the red tomyam, but nevertheless, it does taste good. It has that subtle taste to it, it wasn't spicy at all, and you can choose either with only prawns , or with seafood. Don't bother with prawn, get the seafood better. Same price, more variety inside the soup. I even felt this white tomyam is much better than the red tomyam.















White smooth tomyam, 8/10

Next up, we have this sour-tasting dish. Finely cut mango and mixture of sour and spicy sauce, this kerabu mango is a good compliment to any meal. Take a spoonful if you think you are already almost full tank, and you suddenly felt your stomach has room for 2 more bowls of rice !















Kerabu mango, the miracle to fullness, 7/10

Aside from tomyam, they do serve different types of chicken, such as pandan chicken, pudpet chicken ( spicy ). We thus ordered the green curry chicken. Well, i'm not a big fan of basil soup, thus the chicken was okay to me only. I prefer the pudpet chicken to this though.















Green curry chicken, Incredible hulk's favourite, 7/10

What we like most of these Thai restaurants are their fried kangkung. They are really brilliant in this. Of all i've eaten, Bukit Genting Hill serves the best fried kangkung, better than Lemon Grass or even Kun Thai. Fried together with kangkung, fried dried shrimps and onions. Never leave without it.















Fried kangkung, 10/10

Last but not least, we ordered one of their fish menu. Its siakap fish cooked in spicy sauce and topped with pineapple cubes. I wouldn't recommend ordering seafood especially fish in Thai restaurant, as they are sure to slaughter you. However, the fish was quite good and spicy. They even have a fish dish on top an antique heater.















Pineapple spicy fish, 7/10

By the time we finish our meal, the sun has completed its sunset mode. You might not get cool view from Hong Kong's Victoria Hill, but it still gives that peaceful and cool feel to it.















Peaceful and cool

Apart from food, the owner manage to renovate the place, complete with mock up of elephants , chicken and even a big porch overlooking the whole paddy field..unobstructed.















Big porch, can cater a group of more than 10 persons
















Nice decoration

It's packed during the weekend, but they do have ample seats around to cater for big crowds. But, if you are looking for some sunset shot, get yourself up there before 6pm, and you are guaranteed a nice table with nice sunset view, while enjoying these lovely Thai dishes.

























Bukit Genting Hill Restaurant is located at
Address: Jalan Teluk Kumbar, Balik Pulau
Business Hours: 1130am to 1030pm
Directions: From Penang Bridge, go towards airport. Once you reach the split between airport and Teluk Kumbar, take the flyover. Go all the way till you pass a mosque and some shophouse.
Take another 15mins drive till you reach a stretch with a wooden bridge. Once you pass the bridge, pay attention to your left for any junction with big signboard "BUKIT GENTING".
Contact: 04-6299801, 04-6299805

Price: 7/10
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Food: 8/10
Cleanliness: 5/10
Entertainment: 7/10

Visit http://picasaweb.google.com/thexnix/BukitGentingHill# for more photos

Ong Cheng Huat a.k.a. Spring Chicken

Penang although perceived as a small island, but in fact, the whole Penang consist of Penang island and Mainland. While Penang has quite a number of popular food, Mainland do have a fair share of great local food around. One of them is what they dubbed as "keh kia" a.k.a small chicken. Small chicken here is what we called as Spring Chicken. The most popular thus, is no other than Ong Cheng Huat Seafood Restaurant.















Ong Cheng Huat Seafood Restaurant

Ong Cheng Huat is located at Bagan Lalang, about a 20 minutes drive from Penang Bridge. Its not that hard to find, but the restaurant is located so deep inside, that you might still wonder where is it even after turning into the junction.















Keh Kia, 9/10

This is what we came for, and its none other than the Spring Chicken! Crisply fried, the chicken tasted delicious with spices locked into it. Definitely one of the best fried chicken i ever ate.

Besides Spring Chicken, OCH does offer alot other great food, such as this fried prawn crackers.
Crunchy and tasty, this prawn crackers are great as a starter.















Fried Prawn Crackers , 8/10

OCH does not serve rice, but they do have fried noodles and fried beehoons. The fried noodle tasted better than the beehoon, a little bit similar to mamak mee.















Fried Noodle, 7/10















Fried Beehoon, 5/10

Mainland is also popular with steamed baby octopus, especially the one in front a shop selling Indian movies around Raja Uda. OCH does serve baby octopus too.















Baby Octopus, 5/10

However, it wasnt as good as the one at the Indian movie store near Raja Uda. It tasted so so, and its not quite crunchy enough.















Steamed fish, 6/10

Fish was quite fresh, but however, it seems overcooked. But, its well compensated with a tasty soup base.















Lala, 8/10

The lala was however, tasted great with a good soup base. As its served steamed, the lala need to be as fresh as possible, and it doesn't disappoint here.

Last but not least, fried tauhu. Its a mixture of meat and seafood, and tasted great, with or without chili.















Fried tauhu, 7/10

All in all, great spring chicken, so so seafood.

Ong Cheng Huat Restaurant is located at
Address: 2004, Bagan Lallang,
13400 Butterworth
Business Hours: 11.00 am till 5.30 pm, Closed on Mondays
Directions: From Penang Bridge, go straight till you passed Tesco Extra on your left. From here, lookout for Sg. Dua signboard. Turn left once you see the sign to Sg.Dua underneath a flyover.
Go all the way, till you see Bagan Lalang. Once you turn into Bagan Lalang, be prepared to turn right into a junction with the sign Ong Cheng Huat Seafood.
Contact: 04-331 4782, 012-453 5188

Price: 7/10
Ambience: 4/10
Service: 7/10
Food: 7/10
Cleanliness: 7/10
Entertainment: 4/10

Visit http://picasaweb.google.com/thexnix/OngChengHuatAKASpringChicken# for more photos